Kirikou and the Sorceress

This is an utterly winning film with a child protagonist who knows what he wants and doesn't let anything stop him, from the first moment when he calls out "Mother! Give birth to me!" to the last moment. He is paired with a mother who encourages him to be his full self (her answer to that first demand? "Any child who can talk from his mother's womb can give birth to himself"). The impossibly tiny Kirikou has the smarts to ask the questions the adults aren't bothering to ask and to look farther when they don't have substantive answer. Even more than his bravery, it's his curiosity that win the day, and there are many great lessons for kids and adults in this lovely story. For kids, there's the pluck of a kid even smaller than themselves; for adults, there are the adorable details (the shape of a child's body when he's being nudged away, the way the grandfather holds the tired baby, the very way that Kirikou is bold one moment and wants to be held the next) that let you know this film was made by people who are loving parents themselves. I label this as 3+ simply because it moves slowly enough that someone under 3 might not be able to keep focused on it—but there's nothing a younger child couldn't see, and the "scary" moments are over quickly. There is one moment when Kirikou appears to have died—you might want to let sensitive children know ahead of time that no real harm comes to him. There is animated nudity (bare-breasted women and naked young children) that is accurate to the film's time and place, but do not let it deter you from watching this sweet and utterly heart-warming story that will truly entertain and charm the whole family.